Fifteen Croatian citizens have left the Gaza Strip to date and eight are awaiting evacuation, Prime Minister Andrej Plenkovic said on Thursday, thanking Qatar for mediating in the evacuation.

“I wish to thank our diplomatic representatives for the efforts, notably in Egypt and Qatar, and to thank the Qatari authorities which mediated in this concrete case,” he said at the start of a government session.

“Work is under way for another eight Croatian citizens to leave the Gaza Strip, cross the border and go to Egypt,” he added.

According to Croatian Foreign Ministry data, 47 Croatian nationals are in the Gaza Strip and 23 have requested evacuation.

Plenkovic once again commented on Croatia’s vote against a UN Security Council resolution on a humanitarian truce in the Gaza Strip, saying the resolution does not condemn Hamas’ terrorist attack on Israel.

The failure to mention Hamas, he added, “reminded me of those statements 30 years ago that one knew who the aggressor was, so they were not identified.”

It would be “much more appropriate” to adopt a new resolution condemning the Hamas attack, Plenkovic said.

“Croatia is neither a neutral nor a non-aligned country. Principled positions should be taken on such important, big political issues and that’s what we are doing,” he said, adding that Croatia’s vote does not jeopardise it in any way, “least of all in terms of security.”